Pipe-coupling



(No Model.) I 7 Sheets-Sheet 1.

. G. WESFIINGHOUSE,y Jr.

PIPE GOUPLING.

No. 454,129. Pau-mamme 16,1891.

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(No Model.) 7 Sheets-Sheet 2.

G. WBSTINGHOUSE, J1. PIPE GGUPLING.

No. 454,129. Patented June 16, 1.891.

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(No Model.) 7 sheets-sheet s.

G. WBSTINGHOUSE, Jr.

PIPE GOUPLING. 110.454,12). Patented June 16, 1891.

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(No Moda.) l 7 sheets-sheet 4. I y G. WESTINGHOUSE, J1.

PIPE GOUBLING. j

No. 454,129 Patented June 16,1891.

FIG.6.

FIEL-.

WITNESSES. INVENTOR.

(No Model.) Y 7 Sheets-Sheet 5. Gr. WESTINGHOUSE, JI'.

I PIPE CUPLING. l No. 454,129. Patented June 16,1891.

wlTNEssEs. INVENTORA 7 Sheets-Sheet 6.

G. WESTING'HOUSE, Jr.

(NoModel.)

I PIPE GOUPLING.

l Patented June 16, 1891,

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G.WEST1NGHOUSE, Jr.

PIPE GOUPLING. l 110.454,129. Patented June 16,1891.

WITNESSES. INVENTOR.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

GEORGE IVES'IINGHOUSE, JR., OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA,

PIPEQCOUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 454,129, dated J une16, 1891. Application filed May 16, 1890. Serial No. 352,045. (Nomodel.)

To all whom t may concern: Be it known that I, GEORGE WEsTING- HOUSE, Jr., a citizen of the United States,'re siding at Pittsburg, in thecounty of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented ordiscovered certain new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Couplings, ofwhich improvements the following is a specification. The inventiondescribed herein relates to certain improvements in couplers forAconnecting the adjacent ends of fluid-cond ucting pipes arranged alongor under railway-cars, and hasffor its object a construction of couplerssuch that the parts or members thereof may be quickly and easilyconnected or disconnected When the cars are coupled or uncoupled, willremain iirmly united under all ordinarylateral and longitudinalmovements of the cars in running over the road, and will uncoupleautomatically and without injury in case of an accidental separation ofthe cars.

In general terms the invention consists in the construction andcombination of mechanical devices or elements, all as more fullyhereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1, Sheet 1,is a top plan View of the adjacent ends of two carshaving two lines 0f pipe connected by my improved coupling. Figs. 2, 3,and 4, Sheet 2, are views of the car ends in section and the coupling inelevation, and show, respectively, the position of the members of thecoupling when the connection is being made, when firmly coupled, andwhen automatically separated. Fig. 5, Sheet 3, is a view similar to Fig.1, illustrating the form of coupling employed in uniting single lines ofpipe. Figs` 6 and 7 are views in side elevation and plan, respectively,of the coupling employed for two lines of pipe. Figs. A8 and 9, Sheet 5,are end elevations of the two parts or members of the coupling. Fig. 10,Sheet 5, is a sectional elevation, the plane of section coinciding withthe axis of the coupling. Fig. 11, Sheet 6, is a plan view, on anenlarged scale, of the form of coupling employed for uniting the ends ofa single line of pipe, as shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 12, Sheet-6, is an endelevation ot' one membei1 of the coupling shown in Fig. 11; and Figs. 13and 14, Sheet 7, are sectional and side elevations, respectively, of thesame coupling My improved coupling consists of two parts or members Aand B, consisting of sockets or nipples 1 and 1b and face-plates 2a and2", the rear ends of the sockets being internally threaded, as shown inFig. 10, for the reception of the front ends of the movable sections 3and 3b of the fluid-conducting pipes 4f and 6o 11b, extending un derthecars. Then two lines of pipe are arranged under a car, the two parts ormembers ot' the coupling are not duplicates of each other ,and haveonlyT the parts hereinbet'ore mentioned in common. 65 The lower edge ofthe face-plate of the part or member A is provided with tail-pieces 6,against which a clamping-plate 14a is yieldinglyheld by means of bolts 7passingthrough the tail-pieces, and springs 8, surrounding 7o the boltsand interposed between the nuts thereon and the tail-pieces or plate,dependent upon which side it is desired that the bolts should project.The tail-pieces G are provided at their lower ends with rounded knuckles9, adapted to lit in a correspondingly-shaped groove formed in the loweredge of the plate and serving as a support and fulcrum for theclamping-plate when the upper edge is forced outwardly, as hereinafter8o described. The clamping-plate is provided along its upper edge withan outwardly and upwardly projecting lip 10, behind which in forming acoupling the toes 11b on the lower edge of the face-plate 2b ol themember B are 85 placed, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, 6, and 1-0, the membersA and B being cocked up, as shown in Fig. 2, in order that the toes maybe placed behind the lips. The members A and B having been adjusted, asshown in Fig. 2, they 9o are depressed or allowed to move down of theirown weight until their axes coincide, thereby bringing their faces orbearing-strips 12a and 12b into contact and causing the upper edge ofthe face-plate 2b to pass under 95 the lug 13 on the upper edge of theface-plate 21. Under normal conditions the members A and B are held withtheir axes in line by the clamping-plate 14 and springs S, it beingnecessary to force the clampingplateoutroo wardly in moving the membersA and B down beyond a horizontal position, as in such movement the upperportions of the members become the fulcrums, and the lower portions tendto moveaway from each other, as shown in Fig. 4. The members are heldfrom independent vertical movements by the clampingplate 14 and the lug13 and from independent lateral movement by a tongue 5 on the member Apassing between the toes 11b on the member B. A packing-ring l5", of anysuitable material, is held in a recess formed in the face-plate 2 aroundthe longitudinal opening therethrough by a threaded ring 1Gb, providedwith a wedge-like outer end, as shown in Fig. lO. This packing 15hprojects a short distance beyond the face-plate 2b and is adapted tohave a bearing against a similar ring 15, secured in a similar manner ina recess formed in the enlarged outer end of a tube 17, passing throughthe chamber in the socket and having a bearing within the contractedinner end thereof, as shown in Fig. 10. In order to prevent the leakageoi fluid around outside of the tube, a packing-ring 1S is placed in arecess 19 in the socket and is expanded against the tube by afollower-ring 20, which is moved by a sleeve 21, surrounding the tube17, and provided with threads at its outer end engaging female threadson the socket, its inner wall serving as a guide for the head of thetube 17. A spring 22 is interposed between the head in the tube 17 andthe follower-ring 20 and serves to cause the ring 15 to normally projecta short distance beyond the face of the plate 2 or the contact-strips12, so that when the members of the coupling are adj usted together, ashereinbefore described, the packing-rings l5 and 15b will be held incontact with each other, the ring 15b preferably projecting beyond theface ofV the plate 2 a distance approximately equal to the thickness ofthe contact-strips 12". It will be observed that the spring 22 isentirely protected from the steam or water, and is therefore not liableto rapid deterioration through oxidation. It will be readily understoodthat a single tail-piece G, extending uninterruptedly along the loweredge of the face-plate, may be employed; but it is preferred to employtwo, as shown and described, thereby reducing the weight of the coupler,and, further, the toes 111' may be united into 011e extendingcontinuously along the lower edge of the face-plate 2l. There two linesof pipe are employed, the ends of the pipe-lines are provided at eachend of the car with one member of the coupling-that is to say, themember A is applied to one end of each line and the member B to theopposite end, so that one line has the member A andthe other line themember B at each end of the car.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 5, the movable pipe-sections 3 and 31 arearranged out of line with the main portion of the pipelines and areconnected thereto by short sections of hose or other fieXibleconnections 2.5a and 23h. The pipe-lines and movable sections 3 3b arepreferably so arranged that the connections 23 and23b will form an angle(preferably a right angle) thereto. This construction permits of theifree longitudinal movemonts of the cars without injury to or separationof the members ot the coupling. The movable sections are supported byhangers 24 in such a manner as to permit of the vertical movement ot thesections and the members of the couplers necessary, as hereinbeforestated, for uniting such members, and also to permit of the longitudinaland lateral movements of the car without aitecting the integrity of thecoupling. Other suitable flexible connections may be interposed bctweenthe members of the coupler and the pipes secured to the car, so as torender the movements of the coupler independent of the cars, and viceversa; or in case the main lines of pipe are of such a length and are soarranged as to permit of their being sprung suliiciently to allow of thecoupling of the members A and B, as hereinbefore described, said membersmay be attached directly to the lnain lines without thc interposton ofthe iiexible connections.

Then only one line of pipe is employed, the construction of the coupleris so far moditied that the members A and B are duplicates of eachother, as shown in Figs. 5, 11, 12, 13, and 1l. In such modifiedstructure each member is provided with a tail-piece 6 6b, which islocated at one side of a plane passing through the axis of thesocket,and with a toe 11 11b on the opposite side of said plane. Thetail-piece ot' each member is provided with a elamping-plate 1l 14h,held in place by bolts 7 7 and springs 8 S". The members of the couplerare held from independent vertical and lateral movements by lugs 13 and131', formed on the upper edges of the face-plates, the lugs 011 onemember being adapted when the members are coupled to pass over the upperedge of the other member and to interlock with the lugs thereon, asshown in Figs. 5 and 11.

ln uniting the members of the coupling shown in Figs. 5, 11, 12, 13, and1i they are held so that their axes form al1 angle with each other andso that the axis of one member is a little to one side and below theaxis of the other, as represented by full and dotted lines in Fig. 12,so as to permit of the toes of each member being moved inwardly beyondthe lips ot the clamping-plate of the other member. The members are thenturned so as to cause the toes to pass in behind the lips of theclamping-plates and bring their axes into a common vertical plane. Bothmembers are then depressed or allowed to move down, in which movementthe members turn toward each other, the lower edges of the toes formingthe center of movement until the face-plates or their bearing-strips12"L and 12b come into contact, as described in connection with the formof coupler shown in Fig. 2.

As a guide for the proper adjustment of the Ioo' IIO

members together and to insure the alignment of the axes of the membersafter the first coupling movement above mentioned, a projection orstop25 is formed on each of the members, the stop on one member beingarranged to engage the lip 10 of the other member, as shown in Fig. 12.

Each member of the form of coupling shown in Figs. 5, 1l, 12, 13, and 14has its packingring 15 secured in a yielding tube 17, which is mountedin said members, as shown in Fig. 13, in the manner described and shownin connection with the member -A of the coupling for the double line ofpipe. The members A and B are attached, respectively, to opposite endsof the single line of pipe extending under the car by means of asuitable flexible connection, as herein-before described.

The flexible connections between the meinbers of the coupler and thefixedlines of pipe under the carspermitof theindependentmovements ofadjacentcars without in any way affecting the coupling, which is soconstructed that in case of the accidental separation of the cars themembers will be easily pulled apart without injury to either.

While the form of coupler shown in Figs. 5, 11, 12, 13, and 14 isdescribed as more especially applicable where single lines of pipe areemployed, they are as readily applicable for connecting the ends of thedouble lines of pipe.

The devices herein described depend very largely for their efficiency onthe fact that one of the interlocking devices shown and described issupported in normal working position bya spring and in such manner thatthe interlocking devices While under normal strains will hold; but whenthey are subjected to dangerous abnormal strains the spring will yieldsufficiently to permit one of the interlocking members to pass theother, so that the half-couplings may thus separate without danger ofbreakage, and for this purpose I do not limit myself to the particularform or arrangement of yielding spring connection shown, but claim asregards the feature or part thus referred to the fullest admissiblebenefit of the doctrine of mechanical equivalents.

I claim herein as my invention- 1. In a pipe-coupling, the combinationof two separable members having flexible connections to the main linesof pipe, one inember being provided with an open-top springactuatedyielding lip or hook and the other member with a toe adapted to engagesaid lip or hook and thereby hold the faces of the members together whenfree to move under the force of gravity and are automatically detachableunder unusual strains, substantially as set forth.

2. In a pipe-coupling, the combination of two separable members havingflexible connections to the main lines of pipe and provided on theirlower sides with interlocking devices constructed to hold under normalstrains and to separate by a yielding spring action under unusualstrains, whereby the faces of the members are held together when free tomove under the force of gravity and automatically detachable underunusual strains, substantially as set forth.

3. In a pipe-coupling, the combination of two separable members havingflexible connections to the main lines of pipe and provided on theirlower sides with interlocking devices constructed to hold under normalstrains and to separate by a yielding spring action under unusualstrains and on their upper sides with stops to prevent independentvertical movement of the members, substantially as set forth.

4. In a pipe-coupling, the combination of two separable members havingflexible connections to the main lines of pipe, one member beingprovided with an open-top springactuated yielding lip or hook and theother member with a toe adapted to engage said lip or hook, andintel-engaging lugs and recesses or openings on said members adapted toprevent independent lateral movement thereof, substantially as setforth.

5. In a pipe-coupling, the combination of two separable members havingflexible connections to the main lines of pipe, each member beingprovided on its lower side with a spring-actuated yielding lip or hook,and also with a toe adapted, respectively, to engage the toe and lip orhook of the other member, substantially as set forth.

6. In combination with the outer shell of a pipe-coupling, a movabletube provided with a packing-ring in its outer end and extending throughthe coupling, a packing-ring surrounding the tube near its inner end, afollower-rin g, a sleeve for operating the followerring, and a springarranged between the tube and sleeve and adapted under normal tension toso hold the tube that the packing-ring will project beyond the face ofthe coupling, substantially as set forth.

'7. As a mechanism for use in'couplings where automatic detachabilityunder unusual strains is desired, a hook on the one half of the couplingand a toe on the other arranged so that their meeting faces when engagedshall be at right angles, or substantially so, to the axial line ofstrain, and a spring for holding one of such interlocking members inworking position under normal conditions of use, but suitably arrangedto yield or give way under abnormal strains, so as to permit of theseparation of the members of the coupling, substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

GEO. WESTINGHOUSE, JR. Witnesses:

W. D. UPDEGRAFF, DARWIN S. WoLoorT.

IOO

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